commercial freelance photographer « Jurgen Doom

Photography for “Sporta centrumbrochure”

13 September 2010 om 14:37 door Jürgen geplaatst in de categorie Commercial,Flashlight

As a photographer, specialising in high-end corporate photography, I was commissioned by Sporta to photograph their new brochure.  The assignement was very broad, because I had to photograph sporters, but also their accommodation and training facilities at their sports centre in Tongerlo, Belgium.

One of the images we did was of an athlete who was busy training on the athletic track.  We wanted a high-impact image that could run as a double spread in the brochure.

The final result is the image below.  It was shot during a sunny day, but by adjusting the lighting, using 2 Nikon SB 900’s flashes and little post-production in lightroom, we created this image (shot on Nikon D3x).  The hardest part of the image was to direct the athlete to be at the right place in the right position.

Double spread for Sporta Centrumbrochure

Double spread for Sporta Centrumbrochure

Brico Cover – Pirate meets Princess meets Photographer

2 August 2010 om 14:49 door Jürgen geplaatst in de categorie Camera,Commercial,Photography,Uncategorized

Photography is an expensive occupation.  Children are expensive too.  A combination of being a “photographer with children” is hugely expensive ….

But sometimes the two come together and work well for each other.  Like that one time when I had to photograph the cover of Brico magazine, a 3-monthly that DIY-hardware store Brico publishes.

The ad-agency asked me if I could help finding children between 5 and 8 for an article about a grandfather who had build a “hut” up in a tree for his grand childrren.  Ideally they would be dressed like a pirate, a princess, a “what-have-you” “you-name-it” ….

Myrte, my daughter of 7, just loves getting dressed as a princess and for Johannes, my 5 year old boy, being a pirate comes second nature to him.

And so it happened that they finally figured on the cover of a magazine. Mind you, for Johannes it was already his second appearance on the cover of a magazine.  The first time was when he was about 3 months old.  But the money I made with that cover has long been blown on nappies, etc …. So it was time to top up on some “money credits” ….

Cover of Brico magazine, featuring my two kids.

Cover of Brico magazine, featuring my two kids.

This image was photographed on a Nikon D3x and a 24-70mm 2.8, ISO200, F5.6 at 1/100.  We used one SB900 speedlight (which we litteraly had to hang in a tree in order to get the right angle), gelled with a full cut CTO gel and complemented the lighting with a golden reflector.  The flash was triggered through Nikon’s CLS system.

This image is half of a double spread that ran in the inner pages of the magazine.

This image is half of a double spread that ran in the inner pages of the magazine.

So finally I’ve been able to use them to make me some money, instead of costing me money.  But hey, that money has already been spent …. on a new princess and pirate outfit!

What do photographers earn?

29 April 2010 om 14:46 door Jürgen geplaatst in de categorie Commercial,Flashlight,Portrait

What do you earn as a photographer?

Well, that depends upon the angle you look at it.

As a freelancer, earning a living out of making photographs, I would welcome Euros, Dollars, Pounds and even Yenn or Ruble would do, thank you.

As an amateur, you’re probably very happy with any kind of publication in virtually any type of magazine in return of credits (which is, believe me, nothing to impress your bank manager when it comes to paying your mortgage)

Or for the aspiring photographer, you may well be happy with any kind of encouragement, friendly words or pat-on-the-back type thing.

Well, let me tell you, I was recently comissioned to photograph the person in charge of a company that imports grape fruit.  After it had taken me quite some effort to convince the person that I was there to photograph him – and not the stacks of grape fruit in the depot – he finally started to co-operate.  I set up two stands with a Nikon SB900 speedlight, triggered with Nikon CLS system (on-camera speedlight on a D3s).   I underexposed the atmosphere in the depot, because it had the horrible neon -fluorescent lights which turns everything – and everyone – green.  Not something to brag about.   I had one light – standing at the far end of the lane of crates – lighting the creates in the background, and one light through an umbrella on the person to photograph.  Easy setup that works well – and fast!

But then it happened, when after the shoot was finished, he presented me with the very same piece of grape fruit he was holding during the photo shoot.

Portrait photography - what do photographers earn?

Portrait photography - what do photographers earn?

So, when you pose that question about houw much photographers do earn, remember that it can be anything from cold cash, through respect, credits and sometimes …. grapefruit.

Portret fotograaf – Leuven

om 13:59 door Jürgen geplaatst in de categorie Commercial,Flashlight,Portrait
Portret foto - keuze van de fotograaf.

Portret foto - keuze van de fotograaf.

Als portretfotograaf heb ik zo mijn eigen gedachten ….

Een portret maken op een eerder druilerige regendag, ‘t is niet iets waar veel fotografen op zitten te wachten.

Ik anders wel. Niets zo eenvoudig als je belichting te regelen op een dag waar de zon je geen parten speelt.

Zo verging het me ook bij de portretsessie van een prof aan het “sportkot” van de KUL. Grijze lucht, geen zon, fris windje en enkel een atletiekpiste om iets mee te doen. Verder waren aanwezig: 2 Nikon Speedlights van het SB900 type, een paar CTO kleurenfilters, een koppel pocket wizards, een 85mm tilt-shift lens, een Nikon D3s en nog wat attributen als daar zijn staanders, fototas, hoodman loupe, etc …..

De rest is geschiedenis.

Hieronder mijn favoriete beeld in de reeks ….

In de layout van het tijdschrift paste deze beter (+ het is meer close-up).

Portret fotografie, beeld dat uiteindelijk in publicatie verschenen is.

Portret fotografie, beeld dat uiteindelijk in publicatie verschenen is.

Portrait photography

8 April 2010 om 15:19 door Jürgen geplaatst in de categorie Commercial,Flashlight,Portrait

As a portrait photographer it’s an honour to photograph the portrait of the editor in chief of a magazine.  I had already spoken several times with Lieve over the phone when she comissioned me to photograph for her magazine, OKRA.  But this time it was different, when Lieve asked me to take her portrait for the “edito” of the magazine.

We met at the offices of OKRA, where we choose a location for the imatges to be taken.  I set up 3 flashlights (type Nikon SB900, triggered with a an SB800 via the Nikon CLS system).  One is lighting Lieve through an umbrella, one is a backlight, separating Lieve from the background, which is lit by a third strobe.  This is the resulting photograph:

Portrait photography with the help of 3 portable strobes.

Portrait photography with the help of 3 portable strobes.

By changing the angle from which we photographed Lieve by 90°, I was able to quickly change the look and feel of the image.  The next image is only lit by 2 strobes.

Portrait photography for magazine.

Eventually the image ended up in the magazine in the editorial section, where it will probably find its home for the next few years to come …

Editorial of OKRA magazine with the portrait of Lieve.

Editorial of OKRA magazine with the portrait of Lieve.

Als fotograaf met een speciale affiniteit met portretfotografie is het altijd een hele eer om een portretfoto te mogen maken voor het editoriaal van een tijdschrift. Dergelijke foto wordt niet één, niet twee, maar meerdere keren gebruikt op de eerste binnenbladzijde van een tijdschrift. Daarom vind ik het altijd wel een eer om dit te mogen fotograferen.

Zo ook met Lieve die aan het hoofd staat van de redactie van OKRA. We hadden elkaar al regelmatig gesproken aan de telefoon, waarbij ze me altijd “op pad” stuurde om foto’s te maken, maar deze keer was het om van Lieve zelf een portretfoto te maken.

Het eerste beeld werd gemaakt in de kantoren van OKRA (ergens in een ruimte waar je even kan “ontspannen”). Een driepuntsbelichting zorgde ervoor dat Lieve enerzijds zacht licht langs voren kreeg (door een paraplu), een “haarlichtje” die haar rechterschouder (links voor ons) doet oplichten en haar zo wat van de achtergrond doet loskomen, dat op zijn beurt het licht van een derde flits over zich krijgt.

Om wat variatie te krijgen in de opnamen draaiden we Lieve 90° en gebruikten we een tweepuntsbelichting, wat resulteerde in de tweede foto.  Het uiteindelijke resultaat, het edito met Lieve’s portret, vind je als laatste foto.

Nikon D3x

25 March 2010 om 15:38 door Jürgen geplaatst in de categorie Camera,Commercial,Portrait

This post is to celebrate the arrival of my newest digital camera, the Nikon D3x.

After having photographed the last 2 years with a Nikon D3 camera – much to my satisfaction – I purchased its successor – the Nikon D3s – in December 2009.  The Nikon D3s has the same amount of pixels – 12 Mpix – as the D3, but performs even better in low-light situations than the Nikon D3.  Since I’m a versatile photographer, encountering many lighting conditions and having to shoot under extreme circumstances, the upgrade from D3 to D3s makes perfect sence.  In addition to these features, the Nikon D3s also has a sensor cleaning mechanism, which keeps your sensor fairly dust-free and it also boosts an HD video mode.

As a professional freelance photographer, based in Belgium (near Brussels), 12Mpix sometimes isn’t enough for the clients’ needs.  Although fantastically big prints have been made with files created by my Nikon D3 and Nikon D3s sometimes you just want some extra “air to breathe” ….

With the arrival of the Nikon D3x, I have complemented my lineup with a fantastic camera that is specifically designed for the demanding and versatile photographer who wants some extra “umpf” out of his digital files.  The Nikon D3x offers 24.5 Mpix, creating 27Mbyte RAW files (uncompressed, 14 bit) with an amazing range and tonality of colours and with a sharpness that is unheard of for DSLR’s.

In order to take the Nikon D3x for a test-drive, I dedicated my first shoot with my newly acquiered camera to my kids, Myrte and Johannes.  I took them outside for a quick portret shoot.  They were lit by 3 Nikon SB900 speedlights, one of which was softened through an eazy light softbox.  The two other flashes were aimed straight at them without any diffusion.  The images were post-processed in Lightroom2.  The shots were photographed in daylight, ISO100, 1/250, f/12 with a 85mm perspective control lens (Tilt/Shift lens).

Johannes during the Nikon D3x portrait session

Johannes during the Nikon D3x portrait session

Myrte during the D3x portret session

Myrte during the D3x portret session

Architectural photography

23 March 2010 om 10:18 door Jürgen geplaatst in de categorie Architecture,Commercial

It shouldn’t be a big surprise that a construction engineer-turned-photographer is still in love with building and architecture.  Indeed, one of my main interests in photography lies in architectural photography.  I can always enjoy good architectural photography and I strive to, when I’m photographing buildings and architecture, seek interesting angles, compostions and colors.

One of my clients designs brochures for Philips Lighting and upon completion of a project, I’m comissioned to photograph the building with the integrated lighting.

When the new building for Mercedes in Brussels was finished, I had to photograph the interior of the building, which needed to show its lighting.  It finally ended up in print as follows.

Architectural photography - Mercedes building in Brussels

Architectural photography - Mercedes building in Brussels

Architectural photography - Mercedes Belgium/Brussels

Architectural photography - Mercedes Belgium/Brussels

Photography and pregnancy, a match made in heaven!

22 March 2010 om 12:00 door Jürgen geplaatst in de categorie Flashlight,Portrait,Studio

As a photographer, one of the most beautiful things to photograph is a pregnant womam.  Woman in itself are already beautiful (man too, but that’s a different story alltogether), but a pregnant woman is a pleasure to photograph and to look at.  Most of the times, when pregnancy goes well, these woman are so proud of their little bundle of joy inside their body, that they come accross on photographs in a self-confident way.

It wasn’t any different with this lady, who I photographed in her own house.  Photographing a belly on location, that is in the comfort and cosyness of someone’s own house, holds many advantages.  The pregnant lady doesn’t have to move herself towards a photo studio, but she can stay in a well-known environment, which ultimately helps to gain even more confidence to pose for photographs.  In order to explore the through possibilities of pregnancy photography, often people want photographs of the naked body (which, indeed, shows the changing outlines of the body very well). But as you will see in the photographs below, it doesn’t always have to be naked.

With the help of a black background, which I brought along, and a few of-camera reportage flashes (type Nikon SB900) I created different images.  In order to respect the privacy of everyone involved, I can only show a few images, but they serve to prove my point.  Woman are beautiful, pregnant woman are stunning!

Beautiful shape of a lady's torso.

Beautiful shape of a lady's torso.

Outline of the beautifully shaped belly

Outline of the beautifully shaped belly

Guerilla event photography for Play Station’s Heavy Rain

10 March 2010 om 17:53 door Jürgen geplaatst in de categorie Commercial

Recently I was commisioned to photograph a guerilla event in Brussel. The aim was to capture the mood of a “film noir” of people walking through pooring rain. The rain was created by a rain machine. People leaving Brussels north railway station were given an umbrella in order to keep dry through the heavy rain, created by the rain machine. They had to walk towards me whilst looking into the camera.
The lights we used were cinematographic floodlights (2 times 2000W and 2 times 1000W) and were positioned in such a way that the rain was visible in the photograph.

The event took only about an hour during which time had quite a number of people walking through the heavy rain.

Using a Nikon D3s, wich is a camera designed to use in the field in the most difficult circumstances, I was able to capture the images using a 70-200mm lens at ISO3200.

heavy rain - play station - guerilla event

heavy rain - play station - guerilla event

heavy rain - guerilla event

heavy rain - guerilla event

The photograph used for the press release was choosen by the advertising agency and was used to promote the release of the new game.

press release heavy rain

press release heavy rain

Lastly, I was caught in the action by my assistent Jasmijn who took this photograph.

Jurgen in action.

Jurgen in action.

High ISO photography – Nikon D3s

17 February 2010 om 17:03 door Jürgen geplaatst in de categorie Commercial,Portrait

It was somewhere deep in december of 2009 when a courrier service brought a small parcel, rather unexpectedly. I had ordered my new camera, a Nikon D3s a couple of weeks before, but they shop couldn’t tell me when they would be able to deliver. In fact, Nikon couldn’t even tell.

Nevertheless, my camera stayed unboxed for a week due to my full scedule, but I had some time on my hands just before Christmas to read the manual. Shortly thereafter I started using my Nikon D3s on assignments.

We’ve now been together for 2 months and I must say that it’s again a pleasure to work the Nikon D3s. Not that it’s much different from the Nikon D3, which I’ve been using for the past 2 years. It has the same amount of pixels, it’s housed in the same rigid body and has the same “look and feel” as the Nikon D3. But, it can shoot HD video (says the manual) and can work at high ISO settings such as 6400, 12800, 25600, 51200 and even 102400!

Sure enough, this assignment came along whereby I had to photograph two toddlers at school for the cover of a magazine. There were two restrictions, 1. don’t force the children into doing something they don’t like and 2. don’t use flash.

I started out at ISO 6400 but realised quickly that is was still to low (you want the histogram to be on the right side, not the left) so I changed to ISO 12800. Even at these settings I had to use f/3.5 and 1/40th as a setting on the camera.

These are the shots that came out of it. OK, they are not as sharp as ISO200, but they were more than acceptable for usage in print.

Image photographed with Nikon D3s at ISO 12800

Image photographed with Nikon D3s at ISO 12800

Cover of Visie, with an image shot on Nikon D3S at ISO 12800

Cover of Visie, with an image shot on Nikon D3S at ISO 12800

Ergens midden december vorig jaar moet het geweest zijn. ‘k Had hem al een tijdje besteld, maar wist helemaal niet wanneer hij zou komen. Bij Nikon zwijgen ze zoals steeds in alle talen, waardoor mijn leverancier evenmin kon zeggen wanneer het zou komen. Tot er op een mooie dag aangebeld werd met een pakje van een courierdienst. Bleek de levering van mijn Nikon D3s te zijn, het paradepaardje van Nikon wat betreft sport en reportagefotografie.

Omdat december zo onwezenlijk druk was, heeft het toestel hier zeker een week gestaan zonder één klik, maar in de kerstvakantie deed ik er al mijn eerste opdracht mee.

Nu, na ongeveer 2 maanden, zijn we beste maatjes en beginnen we elkaar steeds beter te leren kennen. Eigenlijk is er niet zo heel veel verschil tussen de D3s en zijn voorganger, de D3. Evenveel pixels, zelfde bouw, zelfde gevoel. Maar het kan wel in HD films opnemen (zegt de handleiding) en heeft heel wat meer ISO’s dan de D3. Nog meer dan de D3.

Zo kan de D3s gemakkelijk ISO 6400 aan, en 12 800 is ook mogelijk. Nog te weinig licht? Ga dan naar 25600, 51200 of (bij zonsverduistering, nieuwe maan, of in de donkere dagen voor kerstmis) zet hem gewoon op 102400.

En jawel, vorige week moest ik een foto maken van twee kleuters in een schooltje. Maar er waren 2 beperkingen. Ten eerste, ik mocht de kleuters niet storen en ten tweede, ik mocht geen flits gebruiken.

De lichtomstandigheden in de klas waren niet ideaal. Ik begon eerst op ISO 6400, maar omdat je beter een beetje “naar rechts” belicht, zette ik de ISO al snel op 12800, wetende dat het beeld voor een cover moest dienen.

Ik moet toegeven dat het beeld niet zo “scherp” is als op ISO 200, maar zonder flits was het in deze omstandigheden niet eens mogelijk geweest een bruikbaar beeld te maken, wetende dat ik onderstaand beeld op f/3.5 bij 1/40ste gefotografeerd heb. Zet dat maar eens om naar ISO 200 (komt ongeveer overeen met 2 seconden belichten op ISO 200)!

Niettemin, hierboven het resultaat. ‘t Zal u wellicht niet verbazen dat we goede maatjes geworden zijn met de D3s ….

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